Are you driving under the influence of impaired emotions?
Dateline: December 4, 2002. Orange County ,California. A 29 year old man was shot to death, an apparent victim of road rage. According to newspaper accounts, he had a reputation for never backing down from a fight.
The man and his half brother were heading home from a plumbing job when the trouble began. Apparently, three men in another car zoomed in front of their car. These men started hurling profanities and flashing obscene gestures at the brothers, who returned the insults.
Things escalated until a gun was pulled. Rather than backing down, the man got out of his car and began walking toward the gunman. Two shots rang out, missing the man who then continued to walk toward the gunman until he was shot and killed.
While this tragic incidence is illustrative of an extreme case of aggressive driving, there are thousands of lesser cases in the United States yearly. According to he AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, incidents of aggressive driving have increased by 7% every year since 1990; however, few courts mandate anger management treatment for traffic offenders.
FIVE ZONES OF AGGRESSIVE DRIVING
Research by Dr. Leon James at the University of Hawaii reveals five categories of aggressive driving. Which zone do you or a loved one fall in?
THE UNFRIENDLY ZONE – Example: closing ranks to deny someone entering your lane because you’re frustrated or upset.
HOSTILE ZONE – Example: Tailgating to pressure another driver to go faster or get out of the way.
VIOLENT ZONE- Example: Making visible obscene gestures at another driver.
LESS MAYHEM ZONE- Example: Pursuing other cars in a chase because of provocation or insult.
MAJOR MAYHEM ZONE – Example: Getting out of the car and beating or battering someone as a result of a road exchange.
DO AGGRESSIVE DRIVERS SEE THEMSELVES AS SUCH?
According to Dr. James and his research team, drivers who consider themselves as almost perfect in excellence (with no room to improve) also confessed to significantly more aggressiveness than drivers who see themselves as still improving.
What this means is that despite their self-confessed aggressiveness, 2 out of 3 drivers still insist on seeing themselves as near perfect drivers with almost no room to improve. These drivers see